Wofford featured in The Princeton Review’s ‘Best 376 Colleges’

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Wofford College is one of the country’s best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features Wofford in the new 2012 edition of its annual college guide, “The Best 376 Colleges.”

Wofford also was one of 135 institutions included in the “Best of the Southeast” section of the company’s “2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region” section on its website (www.PrincetonReview.com).

Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and three colleges outside the United States are profiled in “The Best 376 Colleges,” which is The Princeton Review’s flagship college guide. It includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories, plus ranking lists of top 20 schools in the book in 62 categories based on the company’s surveys of students attending the colleges.

Wofford also is included in the 2012 editions of other college guides, including “The Fiske Guide to the Colleges,” “The Yale Insider’s Guide to the Colleges,” and “The Ultimate Guide to America’s Best Colleges,” which recommended the college’s programs in biological/life sciences and business.

The Princeton Review’s profile on Wofford notes that the college “distinguishes itself by providing its students with an extremely supportive environment. This concern extends to the applications it receives, each of which is given careful consideration. Students who have earned decent grades in challenging courses should find themselves with an opportunity to attend a school that is gaining a reputation as one of the South’s premier liberal arts colleges.”

The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in the book academically or from 1 to 376 in any category. Instead, it reports in the book 62 ranking lists of “top 20” colleges in various categories. The lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review’s survey of 122,000 students (about 325 per campus on average) attending the colleges in the book and not on The Princeton Review’s opinion of the schools. The 80-question survey asks students to rate their own schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Topics range from assessments of their professors to opinions about their financial aid and campus food. Other ranking lists are based on student reports about their student body’s political leanings, race/class relations, and LGBT community acceptance. The Princeton Review explains the basis for each ranking list in the book and at www.princetonreview.com/college/college-rankings.aspx.

In the “Survey Says” sidebar in the book’s profile on Wofford, book lists topics that Wofford students surveyed for the book were in most agreement about in their answers to the survey questions. This list includes: • “Lab facilities are great” • “Great computer facilities” • “School is well-run” • “Low cost of living”

According to Wofford’s profile:

• Students agree Wofford is “an extremely challenging institution with a strong local and increasing national reputation.” • Undergraduates are quick to heap praise on their professors, stating they “genuinely care about their students and … are willing to do anything it takes for each student to succeed.” • Students at Wofford, are academically oriented and tend to put “their education first.” • When undergrads do want to venture off campus, hometown “Spartanburg always has festivals and community gatherings, and there are plenty of restaurants to choose from.” • Regardless of background, Wofford undergrads are an intellectual and curious lot. By and large, they tend to be academically “driven … and hardworking” and “motivated to do well” both in and out of the classroom.